Leaving Las Vegas

Hey, how yall doing? I thought this might be a good place to receive some thoughtful input. I am
basically a trial rider. I've done some mountain biking here in the Desert, and while it is fun, I
still get the most enjoyment just riding the smooth trails. Las Vegas has no such trails. There is
no urban path designed for bikers and skaters. There is no out of town trail that will take you into
the desert. It's pretty much a trail-less area. This, in conjuncion with the fact that summmer is
coming, has inspired me to look elsewhere to live. I do have very specific things that I want in my
new town. It must be a managable city, under 500 thousand. But it must be at least 100 thousand in
size. Aside from that, I want a place where bike trails dominate the area. I came across one such
area last night doing research. It's the Cedar Falls-Waterloo area of Iowa. Supposedly there are
miles of scenic trails in town, and there is also a 52 mile river trail that takes you all the way
to Cedar Rapids. That's what I'm looking for. But is the Cedar Falls-Waterloo area worthy of me
packing up and moving there sight unseen? I don't have the luxury of going there first to explore. I
have to trust my instincts, and the input of others. Is anyone familiar with this area? And are
there other such areas that might fit my criteria? I plan to be taking off very soon.. within a
couple of days. It'd be nice if I had more confidence about my destination. Thank you for your
suggestions and thoughts in advance. Pat

 

In article <[email protected]>, Patrick wrote:
>It must be a managable city, under 500 thousand. But it must be at least 100 thousand in size.
>Aside from that, I want a place where bike trails dominate the area. I came across one such area
>last night doing research. It's the Cedar Falls-Waterloo area of Iowa.

http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/de/elements/

Madison WI and Eugene OR in particular are a couple of smaller cities that are supposed to be nice
for cycling.

-- Dan

--
Dan Cosley ([email protected] * http://www.cs.umn.edu/~cosley/) GroupLens Research
Lab, Univ of MN (http://movielens.umn.edu/ * 612.624.8372) *** Just a foot soldier in the Army
of Truth ***

 

Try Sacramento, CA. There are lots of on street marked bike lanes and the American River Bike Trail,
among others, that are paved, off-road trails.

 

Thanks for your suggestions. For the past few days I have been leaning towards Madison, Wisconsin. I
have lived in Eugene, OR before. It's a decent bicycle city with some nice trails along the river in
particular, but the area sucks for work. It always has. What about Boulder, CO? According to a list
I saw, Boulder is in the top five bicycle commmuter cities. Whether or not that necessarily
translats into bicycle lanes on the road way, and path bike trails in the area, I'm not sure. I know
a lot you guys don't appreciate bicycle lanes on the road, but I'm telling you.. living in Las
Vegas....where bike lanes are almost non-existant, I would feel much more comfortable riding in a
lane of my own than I would sharing the road with these ***holes in this town. It's freaking scary.